Saving the Wizarding World (Ravenclaw-style)
by The Staircase
Summary: Louise is a former Ravenclaw student. Right after graduating from Hogwarts (same year as Luna, Ginny and Hermione), she moved back to muggle London to study mathematics. Five years later, she discovers that the Wizarding World is in danger. She could save it, but she might have to forget her ethical standards. Her biggest problem, though, is her "bravery" issue. Please review! :)
1. Chapter 1

Heavy snowflakes blurred Louise's vision, as she stood by the entrance to Diagon Alley for the first time in five long years. The word _diagonally_ walked casually into her brain. Diagonally. Like in maths, the reason why she survived in the muggle world. How did wizards and witches walk up and down Diagon Alley without realising that the street got it's name because it goes diagonally from one corner to the opposite corner? Or that the name Knockturn Alley had its origin in _nocturnally_? Here we go again, she thought. Thinking that made the Dolly Parton song play loudly in her head. It was annoying. She'd never get rid of country music, would she?

Entering Diagon Alley almost gave her a shock. People in robes. People with magical powers like her. People who had gone to Hogwarts – she really missed Hogwarts – where everyone but her listened to Celestina Warbeck on a daily basis. They hadn't even heard of the Rolling Stones. Of course, she hadn't been to Hogwarts since 1998 when she had taken her NEWTs. Only one person had performed as good as her on the NEWTs that year, and that was Hermione, a Gryffindor prefect. Louise, who was Head Girl in her last year, had been 16 years old at the end of the Second Wizarding War. She wasn't really allowed to participate in the battle of Hogwarts, but she did, briefly at least.

She was a half-blood, and could therefore stay at Hogwarts during the reign of Snape. However, she wasn't allowed to be a prefect that year, even though she had been one the year before. Snape only allowed purebloods to be prefects. The loss of the prefect status didn't bother her, though. She already knew where the prefect bathroom was, and she was clever enough to figure out the new passwords. Also, she became head girl when McGonagall got in charge, so it wasn't that bad.

It was two days before Christmas Eve. She had to get presents for her family and friends, but she had to track them down before she could do that. She had had little contact with anyone after she left Hogwarts. That was partially due to her time-swallowing mathematical studies, but most of all because she had to hide her magical powers. She didn't even know whether or not everyone was still alive, whether her older sister had married her boyfriend yet, whether… Her thoughts were interrupted from someone approaching her swiftly.

"It's Lousie! Ron, look! Who? My best friend from my last year at Hogwarts! Come on, Ron!"

Louise turned around, watching Hermione Granger drag a Weasley away from outside the Qudditch shop.

"How are you?" asked Hermione. "I haven't seen you in years, where have you been?"

"I'm fine," said Louise. At least it wasn't that hard to track down Hermione Granger. "And you? Do you still work with magical law, or aren't there any laws left to change?"

"Well, I'm still busy writing laws and changing the magical world – for the better, I hope. Some would say changing the laws, others would say playing dictator." Hermione laughed. "You've probably done something important and intellectually challenging, haven't you?"

Louise told Hermione about the studies in the muggle world, but also that the reason behind her return to the magical world was that she had missed it. Of course, she had missed it. Missing people, however, was not why she had quit her job at a prestigious muggle university.

"So, how are Luna and Ginny?" asked Louise. She remembered how Luna had disappeared to who-knows-where to look for magical creatures. Ginny had talked about playing Quidditch, while Hermione and Louise had spent most of their time in the library.

"Well, Ginny is a Chaser. She plays for the Holyhead Harpies. She is the main reason why her team won the cup last year." Hermione tried to keep an eye on the Weasley while talking to Louise. "And nobody has seen Luna in approximately three years or so. But I really have to go, Ron is trying to show me something. See you soon!"

Louise just stood there for a while, watching the snow turn Diagon Alley into a gingerbread town with white icing covering the shops, the ground and even the people. It was still enough time for her to go back. Everyone with magical powers was in danger, and so was the ministry – but she could just slip safely back into her nice muggle job and modern flat with – believe it or not – a hidden library.


	2. Chapter 2: A necessary break-in

Louise really missed the hidden room. It was tiny and didn't match the rest of the flat, but it was the only place in the world where someone (not even an underage witch or wizard) could do magic without anyone being able to trace it. She had combined the spells she invented herself with muggle technology. She was probably the safest witch in the world.

She had never been especially brave. The only brave thing she'd ever done was participating, if only briefly, in the battle of Hogwarts. What she had planned to do would require far more courage. And wit, she reminded herself. Nobody else, except maybe a few people, would be able to do what she had to do. This was the wrong time to be scared. Knowing that the Sorting Hat never actually considered placing her in Gryffindor, it was easy to feel scared. Making up for old mistakes was worth the fear. She had to force herself to continue forward. She walked past the Weasley's joke shop. A one-eared man with red hair was talking to a woman. Louise tapped her head with her wand, making herself able to hear all the noises that most people can't hear. She'd invented the spell herself. It was simple, but one of her favourites.

"So, Mrs. Finnigan", said George, "you want to keep your husband from setting the house on fire twice a week? Then you should try this new product, which will make the room and everything in it fireproof. The sales have been great so far this Christmas, this is the last box of FireStopper we have-"

Louise didn't have any time to think. She put the tip of her wand to the wall, muttering an incantation quickly. She crawled through the hole she had made in the wall. She found herself in a small room that wasn't actually a part of the store, and hurriedly repaired the wall. A baffled Martine Copplestone – now Martine Finnigan – just stood there, while George Weasley seemed far less surprised. Martine was a former Hufflepuff, known for her obsession with _Wingardium Leviosa_.

"Good evening, George and Martine. I'm sorry to interrupt, but-" Louise didn't know what to say. The bottle of FireStopper would make everything far easier for her when entering the ministry. She decided on passing the time with some polite conversation until she knew what to do.

"So, how's Seamus?" asked Louise. Martine seemed to be recovering from the shock, and looked rather pleased to see Louise.

"He's good. Actually, he just got promoted. The Ministry has been so busy recently, so when Potter was appointed Head of Auror office-"

"Harry Potter is Head of Auror Office?" Louise couldn't believe her ears. Potter was the youngest Head of Auror Office that the magical world has seen?


	3. Chapter 3: Ethics

After a complete interrogation dressed like a casual conversation, Louise had got information on everything between Heaven and Earth. Only some of the information was interesting, though. After the so-called conversation (it was hard enough for Louise, how did normal people even get out of their beds?), Martine had magically forgot about needing the FireStopper, and was walking down Diagon Alley, unaware of the silent memory charm that was a speciality of Ravenclaws who liked to sneak around at night without getting detention.

Louise knew that she had to get into the Ministry of Magic. After that, assuming that nobody had killed her yet, she had to get into Potter's office. It wouldn't be child's play, but if anyone was ever going to do it, it would be her. Getting into Potter's office wouldn't be too hard. The hard things, the ethically questionable actions, were what she was going to afterwards. She hoped Potter survived. Not that she actually liked him. Luna did. Hermione did. Ginny did, and probably a certain Longbottom too.

She couldn't kill Potter. There had to be another way. It had all seemed so easy at the university. She had planned out everything from her upcoming visit to Knockturn Alley to which spell she would use to get rid of the Head of Auror Office. It hadn't occurred to her, not even for a moment, that the current Head of Auror Office might turn out to be an acquaintance of her. Complicating matters even further, his best friend was Minister of Magical Law. Great, just incredibly fantastic, wasn't it? By killing Potter she'd lose all her contacts in the Magical World. She would have hurt her three best friends more than normal people could imagine. Also, she would have given Ravenclaw House a worse reputation than Slytherin.

When she sat down at her bed in the Leaky Cauldron that night, she had still not figured out exactly what to do. She couldn't use a Polyjuice Potion – according to her sources, the first thing Potter had done after becoming Head of Auror Office, was making the Ministry Polyjuice-proof. She knew why – Hermione had told her everything about their adventures of 1998. From Fleur Delacour's wedding to defeating Voldemort, it made life at Hogwarts seem ordinary. Which it was, but not compared to muggle summer school or university.

_What Louise did not know, was that her chance to infiltrate the Ministry would turn up the next evening. What will she go with, ethics and honesty, or effectiveness? _


	4. Chapter 4: Mudblood

_Just a short chapter from Hermione's point of view, as I could not resist writing it. Please post a review, I'd love to know what I should change/do better. _

Hermione Granger did not belong in a kitchen. It was the one and only thing she was bad at, maybe besides drawing and Quidditch. She would only hire house-elves at special occasions, and she made sure to treat them like _people_. She had seen so much during the last five years. She though it was the end of fear and darkness when Harry finally eliminated Voldemort – she did not like the word kill – was there anything left to kill, anyhow? She hesitated while trying to concentrate on the boiling spell. What was supposed to be the end, turned out to be a new beginning – why did it have to be like that?

The snow had reached the second doorstep by the end of October. It had reached the uppermost step by the end of November. And now, 23th of December, in the early afternoon, she could barely open the kitchen window. Hermione had never seen anything quite like this before, at least not in Great Britain. It was not normal. If she wanted all this snow, she would have lived at the North Pole or in Norway.

Pondering extraordinary amounts of snow, quantum physics or just life in general while cooking is not a good idea. Hermione felt the fire burn her fingertips, tried not to scream, opened the window and plunged her hands into the cold snow. She had done so without realising that her long-sleeved purple dress was getting wet. Pulling her white-blue hands from the snow, she pulled out her wand to perform a drying spell. "Sècher!" She said the spell without hesitation, and could feel her sleeve dry. As the sleeve was pulled at by the spell, the word that Bellatrix Lestrange had once carved into her arm became visible.

_Mudblood._

The word was written with big uneven letters carved by knife into her arm six years ago. And it still made her freeze on the spot. It still scared her, probably because it was still muttered once in a while by members of certain pureblood families. How long would the peace last?


	5. Chapter 5: An opportunity

**I'm not sure of whether I should continue writing this fanfic, or just start a new one. I'd love to hear your opinions in the review section! **

The 23th of December arrived with a great opportunity, which would nevertheless involve a great risk. Louise, having worked with formulas for years, realized that she was being confronted with one of those surprisingly common situations where (greatness of opportunity)=k*(risk). Thus, if k1, she should take both the opportunity and the risk. However, the situation might prove to be a k=1 situation, or even a k1, in which case it would not be worth it.

She did take the opportunity, only being able to guess on the greatness of the constant she was dealing with. A personality transplant had not yet been done, but Louise felt as though a successful one was applied to her mind.

At 5 pm, she had come to regret that decision. She had, for the first and hopefully the last time in her whole life, accepted an invitation to a social event. It was not just any social event either. It was dinner at the Potter's house, two days before Christmas Day, barely a week before she, had she kept her original plan, was to get rid of the Boy who Lived and take over the Auror Office. Moreover, she had never even wanted power. She had wanted to know, to control, to excel, yes –

but power, she had never even wanted it. And now, upon finding out, although merely by chance, that the Wizarding world was doomed, she did not know what to do.

Not knowing was the worst.


End file.
